Bernard Health is phasing out its retail stores as it retools how best to advise people on health care decisions in a tumultuous health insurance environment.

Bernard Health, a Nashville-based startup with retail stores in four cities, has tried to help people choose the right insurance or Medicare supplement plan that's best for them with retail locations.

But after changes in the state's individual health insurance market over the last year, the company will be working with financial advisers and their clients, said Alex Tolbert, founder.

"Health care has become so expensive it really figures in more and more into things like retirement planning," Tolbert said.

The departure of BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee from metro areas was the first major shift for the company.

The company realized it needed a new path after Humana's decision, and the persistent uncertainty at the federal level makes regulatory environments ambiguous not only for 2018 and beyond, but even for the rest of this year.

"There are so many things that have happened, such as the forces that caused BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee (to leave). If those forces hadn't happened, we wouldn't have made the change," Tolbert said.

Bernard Health always had a relationship with financial advisers but not necessarily the staff to work closely enough to answer all the questions for clients who may be weighing whether they can retire early or assessing how much they will need for health care in their golden years.

Tolbert — who writes a biweekly column for The Tennessean — expects to keep the Bernard Health location at 100 Oaks on Thompson Lane, but the startup will close some of its retail shops, including the location in Belle Meade on Harding Pike. It's working with CBRE to sublease that building.

Nashville is the first of the company's markets to undergo the transition, but Atlanta, Austin, Texas, and Indianapolis will take the same path.

The company will keep a focus on working with employers' human resource departments to help companies and employees save money.

Reach Holly Fletcher at hfletcher@tennessean.com or 615-259-8287 and on Twitter @hollyfletcher.